State Superintendent Ryan Walters Visits Tulsa For Meeting With City Leaders, TPS

State Superintendent Ryan Walters was in Tulsa to meet with leaders from Tulsa Public Schools (TPS) and the City of Tulsa on Wednesday.

They talked about the improvements TPS has made so far and what’s next.

Some parents say their kids have been happy and are learning a lot this school year, especially when it comes to reading.

Walters and TPS Superintendent Ebony Johnson discussed the changes happening in the district and what the data says about those changes.

One parent says he’s thankful for TPS for helping his child catch up.

“When we moved here, we were homeless, and my son, he didn't learn anything from being homeless, so when he got here he actually went to the top of his reading level, his math level, with just breaking out of his shell,” said parent Jarvis Johnson.

Ebony Johnson says her main goal is to make changes that will help kids now instead of several years down the line.

She says they’ve already seen fewer kids being absent, higher scores, and a smaller drop in enrollment.

"We know that there are challenges,” said Ebony Johnson. “We have talked about those challenges, we have not shied away from acknowledging that we have work to do, but we're actually doing the work. We want families to know that we take their child's education very serious."

Walters was complimentary of Johnson’s work- and says his main concerns with TPS are financial management, increasing reading scores, and turning around those schools that are struggling.

"I've said when I see problems, I've been very clear to Oklahomans and Tulsans when I see issues, and I'm also going to be very clear with Tulsans and Oklahomans when I see good things happening, when I see those improvements made,” said Walters. “Right now, I'm sitting here looking at good data."

Another parent says she’s already seen the improvements in her child’s classroom and believes the district will keep getting more successful.

"The Superintendent we have now, Dr. Johnson, was actually one of my teachers,” said Angie Reynolds, a parent. “So I think the students now are in great hands. She was a phenomenal teacher, she went from teaching to being a principal, and I don't think we could have asked for anything better."

TPS will be presenting new financial data at the next state school board meeting and Walters says he’s looking forward to seeing that.